Amid nerves, tears, riders get back on

Memorials set up at Moorpark station

Jennifer Winslow of Newbury Park rides a bus Monday that she boarded at the Moorpark Metrolink station. The bus took her to the Chatsworth station, where she could board a train to downtown Los Angeles.

Pedro Lopez of Moorpark waits for a Vista bus at the Moorpark Metrolink station Monday morning. Lopez, who was going to work in Simi Valley, said he knew two of the victims of Friday's train collision. Train riders boarded buses in Moorpark and were taken to the Chatsworth station, where they could board trains.

Ventura County commuters got back on Metrolink trains Monday, saying they still believe that the trains are safe after the accident in Chatsworth on Friday that killed 25 people.

Patricia Whitlock, arriving at the Moorpark station Monday evening, said she was "nervous not seeing the people I normally see." But she was not nervous about riding the train, as she has done every workday for four years.

"It could be a plane, a train, an automobile. Any accident could happen," the Moorpark resident said. "You wish it wouldn't, but it does."

Whitlock and other commuters had taken buses from Chatsworth to the Simi Valley and Moorpark stations because the track north of Chatsworth remains closed. Metrolink will continue to run buses along that route until at least Wednesday morning. Metrolink had originally hoped to have trains running again Monday afternoon.

Friday's accident happened when an engineer missed a red signal and the commuter train hit a freight train in Chatsworth, according to Metrolink.

In 2005, 11 people died when a Metrolink train slammed into a vehicle parked on the tracks in Glendale.

Jason and Eta Wolk, waiting for their daughter Sarah, 20, to arrive from San Diego, where she is a college student, believe that riding the train is safer than driving.

"This is horrible, but you can't let it change your life," Jason Wolk said. "She wants to come home, and we want to see her before she starts school next week."

On Monday morning, Metrolink had a fleet of buses waiting at the Moorpark station but few riders.

Buses were leaving the station every 20 minutes or so with fewer than a dozen passengers each.

One rider was Chris DiMaggio, 34, who's been riding the train to his job in Glendale for four years.

"I'm upset, like most riders," said DiMaggio, who lives in Camarillo. "I know objectively that the train is the safest way to travel, but it shakes my confidence that there's been these two horrific accidents. It's a shame we have this rail system that has a pretty lousy safety record."

At the Simi Valley station, there was a mix of tears and stoicism as commuters arrived for their trip to work.

Baskets of white flowers were arranged in a line along the platform, and bouquets of flowers had been tied to the posts along the track.

"It's a little too emotional," said a tearful Dodi Autry, a Simi Valley resident who arrived clutching a bouquet of flowers. "I've been riding for 16 years, and I knew the crew."

By 8 a.m., about 200 people had shown up at the station to take the bus to Chatsworth, where they would connect with a train, according to Metrolink officials on site.

"I didn't have any second thoughts. This is still the best mode of transportation," said Pam Reardon, a Simi Valley resident who takes the train every day. "I'm a little bit apprehensive, but we'll get through it."

As people boarded buses in Moorpark, a tow truck showed up in the station parking lot to remove a car with a bouquet of flowers on its windshield. The Volkswagen Beetle belonged to Maria Elena Villalobos, 18, of Moorpark, who was killed in the crash.

A worker with the city of Moorpark, who did not want to be identified, said he had checked the parking lot Sunday night for cars and was passing that information on to police.

Over the weekend, people left memorials at the Moorpark station, with lit candles and notes to Villalobos and other passengers. Monday evening, people were still bringing flowers and lingering over the memorials.

One person left a bouquet of roses with a note reading, "To my fellow travelers: All my prayers."

American Red Cross volunteers were at the Moorpark and Simi Valley stations in the morning distributing fliers to let people know that counselors were available. Information is available at 339-2234, ext. 253, or at GuzikEl@usa.redcross.org.

— Correspondent Rachel McGrath contributed to this report.

How to help

- Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village will hold a blood drive today in memory of Paul Long, a teacher killed in Friday's train crash. The drive, sponsored by the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 1104 at Calvary Community Church, 5435 Via Rocas. Room 1104 is adjacent to the church's parking lot on the south end of the school campus. Donors must bring identification, be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 102 pounds.

- A blood drive for crash victims will be held Wednesday in the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the library, 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley.

- The Simi Valley Community Foundation can help the families of those injured or killed in the crash by setting up memorial or medical funds. The foundation is the nonprofit arm of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce. For information, contact Leigh Nixon or Jackie Snider at 526-3900.

- The Ventura County Community Foundation can assist in establishing memorial funds that benefit charitable groups or scholarships. Call Hugh Rawston at 988-0196, ext. 116, for information.

- The Moorpark Chamber of Commerce has opened an account at Wells Fargo Bank in Moorpark to help crash victims. People can make donations to the "Train Victims Benefit Fund." The account number is 9738485896, and donations can be made at any Wells Fargo branch.